Searching Person Group Column in SharePoint Online: A Staff List Solution

Searching Person Group Column in SharePoint Online: Staff List Solution

In SharePoint Online, the Staff List is a commonly used list to manage the organization's staff information. One of the critical columns in this list is the Person Group column, which holds a bunch of metadata columns related to a person. However, searching for a specific person or group in this column can be challenging, especially when the list contains numerous entries.

Understanding the Person Group Column

The Person Group column in SharePoint Online is a type of column that allows you to store information about a person or a group of people. This column can contain various metadata columns such as Name, Title, Department, Manager, and Email. These columns can be used to filter, sort, and group the data in the Staff List, making it easier to manage and analyze the information.

The Problem: Searching for a Specific Person or Group

The main search field at the top of the page, "Search items," may not be sufficient to find a specific person or group in the Staff List, especially when the list contains many entries. The search results may not be accurate or may return too many entries, making it difficult to find the desired person or group.

The Solution: Using the Staff List View

To search for a specific person or group in the Staff List, you can use the Staff List view. The Staff List view allows you to filter, sort, and group the data in the list based on the metadata columns. To access the Staff List view, follow these steps:

1. Go to the SharePoint site where the Staff List is located.
2. Click on the Staff List app to open it.
3. Click on the List tab in the ribbon.
4. Click on the List View dropdown and select Staff List.

Once you are in the Staff List view, you can filter, sort, and group the data based on the metadata columns. For example, to find a specific person or group, you can use the Filter feature to filter the data based on the Name, Title, Department, or Manager columns. You can also use the Sort feature to sort the data based on these columns, making it easier to find the desired person or group.

Filtering the Data

To filter the data in the Staff List view, follow these steps:

1. Click on the Filter button in the ribbon.
2. Select the column you want to filter by, such as Name, Title, Department, or Manager.
3. Select the operator, such as equals, contains, or starts with.
4. Enter the value you are looking for, such as the name of the person or group.
5. Click on the Apply Filter button to apply the filter.

The data in the Staff List view will be filtered based on the selected column, operator, and value. You can add multiple filters to further narrow down the data.

Sorting the Data

To sort the data in the Staff List view, follow these steps:

1. Click on the column you want to sort by, such as Name, Title, Department, or Manager.
2. Click on the arrow that appears next to the column name to sort the data in ascending or descending order.

The data in the Staff List view will be sorted based on the selected column. You can sort by multiple columns to further organize the data.

Grouping the Data

To group the data in the Staff List view, follow these steps:

1. Click on the Group By button in the ribbon.
2. Select the column you want to group by, such as Department or Manager.
3. Select the grouping style, such as automatic or manual.
4. Click on the Apply Grouping button to apply the grouping.

The data in the Staff List view will be grouped based on the selected column. You can group by multiple columns to further organize the data.

Searching for a specific person or group in the Staff List in SharePoint Online can be challenging, especially when the list contains numerous entries. However, by using the Staff List view, you can filter, sort, and group the data based on the metadata columns, making it easier to find the desired person or group. By following the steps outlined in this article, you can effectively search for and manage the data in your Staff List.

References

• SharePoint Online Help: Filter and sort list items in SharePoint

• SharePoint Online Help: Sort list items in SharePoint

• SharePoint Online Help: Group list items in SharePoint